Contestant #1 - funky patterned hoodie - 60% wools
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Definitely felted some! I'm glad, because this one has great stripes & patterns.Contestant #2- scenery patterned - 60% wools
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This one did not felt, which surprised me. Maybe another run through a hot wash would do it, but no dice on this round!Contestant #3 - cream fair isle - 63% wools
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Felted!Contestant #4 - yellow cabled - 65% wools
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Felted!Contestant #5 - pretty green & white stripes - 60% wools
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Felted! I love how soft & dense this one is! Would make some great slippers!Contestant #6 - lovely lavender - 65% wools
Felted!Contestant #7- patterned mohair - 51% wools
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Didn't felt :(. I can't say I was surprised on this one.Contestant #8- light green - 65% wools
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Felted!Contestant #9 - bright turquoise - 55% wools
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Felted!Contestant #10- tan with chest stripes - 52% wools
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This one was already lightly felted when I started, and it felted a little bit more.So 8 out of 10 felted... not bad! I'm going to give those other 2 another chance to felt, the next time I hot wash a batch of sweaters.
10 comments:
This is prob a dumb question, but can't you still use the unfelted ones? Maybe just be careful to hurry and sew and not let them unravel? I like the feel of the sweaters that aren't so felted they get stiff. I have thought of trying to make something with unfelted or barely felted sweaters but am afraid I may end up feeling like a fool! :)
Sure, you can use them unfelted. You just need to treat them like any fabric that unravels... create a fold over seam, or stitching securely. I like them lightly felted myself, for most projects. They don't even look felted sometimes, because they ate so lightly felted, but they won't unravel when cut.
By the way, no question is a dumb question. The minute you stop asking questions, is the minute you stop learning :) (I read that saying somewhere, and it's so true!).
Thanks for the feedback! That's good because I always have LOTS of questions! hehe
Do you recommend hand-felting, like in the sink? I think that is probably better for me because I am a control freak. I want my things to come out exactly as I planned for them to. And I always forget to check the dryer every so often when I have tossed sweaters in lately with my regular loads. A couple have come out pretty felted and shrunken.
I have actually never felted a sweater by hand. I always use the washing machine. I am lazy ;). If you want to control the felting, you can periodically check on the load while it's washing.
I just pulled two shetland wool sweaters and one merino wool sweater out of the dryer for the upteenth time and they still refuse to felt up one teeny bit. I knew the merino was iffy, but I'm flabbergasted by the shetland wools. And they're labeled 100% wool! You just never know what you're going to have when you open up that dryer door.
Wow, that's odd! I've never heard of a shetland not felting, and you had 2! Felting sweaters is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. ;)
This is a great challenge and good discussion!! Thanks!! I've had to give up on Shetland wool sweaters because I've never been able to get one to felt. I just won't even buy them any more at the thrift store. I seem to remember reading that in a book somewhere, too, that the Shetland wool won't felt. Someone gave me an old mohair throw, which I also can't get to felt. And I've given up on buying hand-knitted sweaters because I've bought 3 in the past year that I absolutely could have sworn were wool, but must have been acrylic, because they didn't felt at all! ~Emily M.
Emily, that's so odd! I've always know shetlands to be predictable felters, and have never had one not felt. The mohair blanket not felting is odd too. A while back I had some felted 100% mohair blankets. I didn't felt them myself, but they were felted when I got them at the thrift store. Hand knit or machine knit shouldn't make any difference, but I always make sure there is a fiber identifying tag.
superwash wool is just that and you cannot felt it
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